An Essence Most Glorious
by DarkAngelOfSorrowReturns
Summary: Luna took it upon herself to protect the essence of Christmas and received a visitor in the process. Written for Marvelously Magical Fanfiction's Enchanted Wonders19!


Note: Written for Marvelously Magical Fanfiction's Enchanted Wonders19! Any mistakes are my own.

Prompts: Luna/T'Challa, Nutcracker, Dragon Fang

* * *

Luna hummed to herself as she stacked the Quibbler magazines in a crisscrossed fashion on top of her desk. It kept the Manglers away from distracting her and messing with the ink on the paper. The ghastly little things couldn't get enough of the stuff, always causing pages to dry out and appear more worn out than they actually were. It was a shame no one took heed to her knowledge on the creatures.

Nevertheless, the Manglers wouldn't come bothering her anytime soon. She had a lot of important work to do if she was going to aid Santa in his quest to make deliveries and spread magic across the world.

Every year Luna took it upon herself in her tiny workshop to create objects that would hinder all the horrid things that could take away the essence of Christmas. Any creature, spell, or object wouldn't be undetected, and the witch would attempt to handle the threats—within her reach—to Christmas. She could proudly say that she was 5 years successful, though last year a Grinched Gnome was more trouble than his minuscule size shown. She knew asking for help would have been easier, but the others didn't understand. Not really. No one ever understood as her parents had—Hermione could only stretch her logic so far.

There _ was _one person she'd met a year or so ago that wasn't like the others. He was royalty and came from another world—another life—entirely, and Luna was in awe by his culture and the technology produced through their soil. It even went beyond the glowing magic the Photowraglers used to brighten lightbulbs.

Luna crossed paths with him when the leaves first fell from the trees; she was on an expedition to acquire all the ingredients she needed to protect Christmas in the following month. The next ingredient was a rare dragon fang that neither Diagon Alley or Knockturn Alley had in stock, leading the witch to the Romanian mountains—courtesy of Charlie Weasley's advice.

She was setting up camp when an opening in the sky formed a short distance away. The lithe, black figure shot through the opening, and Luna couldn't contain her curiosity as the figure landed.

He landed on his feet and stood tall. Luna thought it was a large panther until she noted the claw necklace and the figure tapping the side of his head where an ear would be.

The blonde leaned over the boulder near her camp for a closer look, and he faced her in an instant. She couldn't see his eyes directly, but she was sure they were peering at her.

Thinking on that day, Luna was amused at her first words to the hero.

_ "By the goddess you're beautiful." _

Luna giggled to herself because she was certain he blushed.

He was on a reconnaissance mission of some sort for his colleagues, but he didn't divulge all the information for obvious reasons. He did, however, connect with his own history once his helmet dematerialized.

Despite being lost in her thoughts, Luna saw the shadow of a figure coming into her workshop. Her eyes flickered towards the shadow, and she smiled. 'Quite the timing,' she thought.

"Your highness," she said, tipping her head towards the object of your thoughts.

His chuckle was deep as he grinned and approached the desk in the workshop. "Please, Luna, I've told you to call me T'Challa."

She folded her hands on her desk and nodded again. "You did," she said. "It's the Nargles affecting my brain."

T'Challa clasped his hands behind his back with a wider grin. "I have no doubt."

The flutter in her stomach increased greatly when she saw the shine in T'Challa's eyes. No one had looked at her that way before. Harry did once many years ago, but they were teenagers then. The one standing before her was a man.

She assessed his attire quickly. He didn't sport his panther suit, but the claw necklace was draped around his neck atop his navy blue sweater shirt. Accompanying his shirt was a dark blue and gold jacket stitched with black fur. His slacks were simply black, but that didn't take away the natural swag and grace the king had.

Luna finished her assessment on his face. He raised a brow, amusement coloring his cheeks.

"I see you're dressed for the occasion," T'Challa commented.

Luna had gotten so comfortable in her attire that she forgot she was in her 'Rescue Uniform'. This year she resembled the Nutcracker, wild pale curls and all. A sugar plum fairy would attract too much attention with the fairy dust she would need to use.

"I have a duty to Santa as you know," Luna replied, tilting her head slightly with her smile intact.

"I'm aware," he said. "Which is why I'm here tonight. I wanted to offer you some assistance this year if you'd allow it."

"Of course. What are you offering?"

T'Challa reached into his coat and pulled out an intricate blade. It resembled the fang she obtained from their first encounter but the jolt of the blade was etched in glowing purple lines like the ones that appeared in his suit.

"I wish to offer this as an apology as well," he said. "I wanted to see you sooner, but my people needed me vastly this year."

Luna shook her head. "No need to apologize, T'Challa. I know the woes and efforts to keep the world intact."

He gave her a grateful head tilt and held the weapons out to Luna. "Great warriors in the galaxy use weapons like this, and after the object you acquired last year in the mountains, I thought that one with more heightened abilities could come in handy. "

Luna shook her head once more. "A dragon fang isn't necessary for my potion this year," she said honestly. "However I would never turn down a gift nor some assistance like this."

She took hold of the fang and watched the lines begin to move towards her skin.

"Magnificent," she whispered. "Vibranium is truly a wonder."

"You're welcome to join Shuri in her lab for further research," he said.

Luna's eyes met his once more and took T'Challa's hand on hers. She felt bold enough to do so because she was sure the king felt something in order to bring her such a gift.

"I will if you join me in my quest to protect the essence of Christmas this year."

T'Challa brought her hand to his lips, and she felt lighter than she did from her garden dance in the spring.

"It would be my honor, Luna," T'Challa said.

He hadn't released her hand, and Luna took that as a sign that this year the essence of Christmas would be most glorious.


End file.
